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2010 F1RWRS British Grand Prix
The 2010 F1RWRS British Grand Prix was the eighth race of the 2010 F1RWRS season held at Silverstone. Nathanael Spencer won the race, his first career victory. Race Report The championship battle was reaching a crucial phase at this point, with nine drivers still mathematically able to take the title. Gary Cameron was leading despite not having won a single race, with a six point advantage over Dan BH, who had won in Saxony. BH had a one point and two point lead over Frank Zimmer and David Koczo respectively. Zimmer was also yet to win a race, but Koczo had already won in Tasmania and Bahrain, his inconsistency preventing him from scoring more points. Dave Simpson was fifth and the least consistent of them all, with three victories in Luxembourg, China and Belgium, but only a single 8th place alongside them. The very consistent Nathanael Spencer and the mightily impressive privateer Luca Pacchiarini were also reasonably close. Also contenders were Ashley Watkinson and Sammy Jones, but both would need a miracle to seal the title. Of those contenders, three of them sealed the top three positions in qualifying, Zimmer beating Pacchiarini and Spencer. Koczo was 6th, Cameron 8th and Simpson 10th, with BH down in 18th. Zimmer and Spencer sped away from the start with Pacchiarini dropping to fourth, but the field's relative pace again began to change from lap to lap, Pacchiarini retaking the lead on lap 2 ahead of Spencer, Zimmer, Adam Lewis, Koczo and Chris Dagnall. Koczo came in for his stop on lap 3, colliding with James Davies on his way out. Both drivers were able to continue without much trouble. Meanwhile, Phoenix McAllister had found pace and was now in the top 5 and catching Frank Zimmer for fourth. The top five then bunched up, leaving Lewis an opportunity to make an incisive pass to take the lead, although Pacchiarini repasses him on lap 8. Zimmer, meanwhile, drops out of the top ten, obviously not at ease with the tyres. A couple of laps later, Chris Dagnall takes the lead, the first time he leads an F1RWRS Grand Prix and the oldest driver to do so. He is closely followed by David Koczo, whose early stop turned out to be a very good decision. The other early stopper, James Davies was down in 14th, showing that the Hungarian had to work to get back to the front. He then takes the lead from Dagnall, with the Kahamas 3rd and 4th. Pacchiarini, who had stopped, was now mad at his mechanics, as his slow stop saw him drop behind Zimmer. Davies is also making his way up the pack. Kay Lon doesn't make a fuss, as he isn't directly competing with him, but Simon Redman and Dave Simpson do their best to keep the Briton behind. By now, BH's chances for the title are over, as he gets lapped. Thomas De Bock was now well into the top 10 on strategy and was holding up many drivers, creating a battle between Zimmer, Lewis and Pacchiarini, while Gary Cameron was beginning to show uncharacteristic signs of frustration, pitching a slow Chris Dagnall into a spin. De Bock continued to make a nuisance of himself, blocking Lewis and colliding with his team mate Zimmer! On the next lap, the Belgian "made amends" and pitched Pacchiarini into a spin. By this point, Koczo and Davies were beginning to slow down, showing signs of higher-than-expected tyre wear. Were they to stop, Nathanael Spencer was first on corrected order, in third place. This scenario turns out to be right, James Davies pitting on lap 20 at the same moment as Redman and Dagnall, and Spencer catching and passing Koczo before the Hungarian could pit. Davies, having returned to the track, was now holding up Pacchiarini, who was trying to save fourth position. Spencer still leads with Koczo second and yet to pit and Gary Cameron a consistent third. That third place becomes second once Koczo finally pits on lap 23. Pacchiarini quickly made his way by Davies, but the 20-second gap separating him from Koczo in third was too big to overcome. The Italian would only be able to make up two seconds, and Spencer took a clean race victory, becoming the fifth driver to win an F1RWRS race, and the first to take fastest lap on his way to victory! Championship-wise, Spencer, Cameron and Koczo had brilliant races. Cameron's second place was good for him in the sense that Zimmer and BH only finished 6th and 7th, with Pacchiarini 4th and Simpson down in 15th. Koczo's third also made him jump Zimmer and BH to take second in the championship while Spencer's victory nets him a provisional third place. After this, Cameron's championship lead is extended to 9 points, making him almost untouchable going to the final race. Spencer's victory enables him to have a slim shot at the title on countback. However, if Cameron finishes ninth or higher, he clinches the championship at Eastern Creek. Zimmer and BH were left tied for fourth place, but they are still cloes enough to realistically fight for second place in the championship. Classification Qualifying Race *Pole: Frank Zimmer: 1:05.82 *Fastest Lap: Nathanael Spencer: 1:07.34 Standings after the race *'Bold text' indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion. ;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *'Note': Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.